Iowa man sentenced in meth conspiracy

DES MOINES, IA – On January 19, 2012, Andru Alan Fisher, age 42, of rural Glenwood, Iowa, was sentenced in United States District Court for his participation in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt.

Senior United States District Court Judge Ronald E. Longstaff sentenced Fisher to 178 months imprisonment, plus five (5) years of supervised release following his imprisonment, and imposed a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. The Defendant was ordered to remainin the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prison facility at which he will serve his sentence.

On April 28, 2011, an indictment was returned by the federal grand jury charging Fisher and five other persons with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and associated charges in what has been referred to as “the Fisher Farm case”. Fisher appeared in federal court in Council Bluffs, Iowa on September 8, 2011, and pled guilty to his participation in the conspiracy.

The “Fisher Farm” is an acreage located in rural Mills County, Iowa at which an estimated 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of pure methamphetamine was manufactured by several people from at least February of 2003, to May of 2011. Persons involved in the conspiracy were responsible for the theft of substantial quantities of anhydrous ammonia in southwest Iowa and for the purchase of pseudoephedrine from several stores in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri, all of which was used tomanufacture methamphetamine.

Fisher was considered a leader of the conspiracy. He was one of the owner’s of “Fisher Farm”, lived on the premises, manufactured methamphetamine, permitted others to manufacture, and assisted in the loose organization of providing precursor materials, including stolen anhydrous ammonia, for others to manufacture methamphetamine. Fisher admitted knowledge of at least 23 other people who engaged in manufacturing methamphetamine at “Fisher Farm”.

From February of 2003 through August of 2010, Fisher had been the subject of a numberof State of Iowa searches at the “Fisher Farm”, and had been convicted in state court in 2003 and 2009 for precursor chemical violations associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine, all of which were part of the eventual federal conspiracy charge. Fisher was arrested on federal
charges for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine in May of 2011, and had continued involvement with the manufacture of methamphetamine at “Fisher Farm” until his arrest on these federal charges.

This case was investigated by the Mills County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Department, the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Iowa.